The waters of Xiangbi River that flows through the Sichuan province of China suddenly turned red, sparking concerns among the residents of the city of Yibin and prompting the authorities to launch an investigation, Chengdu Business Daily newspaper reports.
The cause of the incident reportedly turned out to be paint, which was accidentally spilled into the river by workers at a local packaging plant.
According to the newspaper, the paint itself is water-based and non-toxic, thus posing no threat to the locals, especially considering that they do not use the river as a source of drinking water.
The authorities, however, launched a probe into the packaging company, which may be fined for this incident.
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Earlier in 2016, a similar phenomenon was observed in Siberia, near the Russian city of Norilsk, where a local smelting plant had discharged industrial waste into the Daldykan River.